Drive UK to Spain
 

I'll be driving from Uk to Spain (Costa Blanca) during mid September - probably Calais thru France etc. -- Santander too expensive !

Have you done it ?

Any advice would be appreciated

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

Try http://www.viamichelin.co.uk and put in likes and dislikes. Less tolls on Calais, Rouen, Tours, Bordeaux, Pau, Sompfort tunnel, Zarragosa, Valencia. Alternatively Calais, Rouen, le Mans, Tours, Vierzon, Limosin, Toulouse, Girona, Barcelona, Valencia but it is expensive.

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

I'll be watching this thread with interest as I am planning to come over myself soon so I want to find out the best route and prices of ferries etc. which are the best ferries to use for my two dogs. I'm hoping to come to el Campello if we can get a rental sorted.

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

I did it last year but in July. Went Calais Rouen Orleans Limoges Angouleme Bordeaux Bayonne Vitoria Gasteiz Burgos Madrid ( no traffic jams!) Valdepenas Cordoba and Seville. missed out quite a few toll roads.
Pete

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

I regularly travel from Javea to Calais and vice versa.

My preferred route is always via Saragossa and Pamplona to Bordeaux. Then on to Tours, LeMans Rouen (not good) and Calais. I avoid any route taking me near Paris! (Reverse if heading South...)

I usually stop overnight in Bordeaux, the Holiday Inn is good value, its on the by pass so easy access to your route, has secure parking and is close to a Carrefour Hypermarket for stocking up on French wine and goodies at better than ferry/tunnel prices.

The toll roads in France make the journey easy but boring, a good guide to the toll costs is on the AA site. You can use your credit card at the toll gates - much quicker than cash.

theaa.com/allaboutcars/overseas/european_tolls_results.jsp?country=France

IMHO its worth the extra using non toll roads will add 4-6 hours to your journey but if you want to avoid plenty of advice on this site....

about-france.com/tourism/no-tolls-routes.htm

If you want to sight see consider going through the Pyrenees/Andorra but it will add significant time to the journey and probably another overnight stop.

I'll be returning to the UK in September and will go via the Millau viaduct for the photo opportunity then up through Germany to the Hook of Holland ferry.

Beware of the new french rules on breath test kits in the car, no laser detection devices and speed camera locations on your GPS. Plenty of info on the AA site. If you search my posts there is a thread on this subject with some :banghead: 'interesting' comments. http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=744472

Finally don't try to do it in one go even if you have two drivers. Take an overnight stop.

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

You could post again on the France forum for the France part - there are plenty of us in the South West who can give practical info on all the various itineraries possible.
As mentioned, the Millau Viaduct on the A75 and the scenic beauty of the Auvergne (plus that autoroute is free from Clermont-Ferrand to Béziers where you join the A9) is recommended.
Hope this helps!:)

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

did that back in December 11, except I dropped down to Granada.
Angouleme is a large place, plenty of hotels and restaurants to meet all pockets.
Plenty of roadworks around the west of Madrid, it was Dec, dark, raining, not a happy time.
In April 11 we came the same way thru France but came over the mountains to Pamplona. We made the mistake of missing a turnoff to Taragona and entered the roadworks around Sarragossa - which was horrendous.:eek:

On both occaisions, other than a hotel booked at Calais so a good night's sleep obtained before the heavy bit, all overnites were just walk in and ask for a room. Never a problem, seemed to be plenty of capacity in the smaller places.
with planning I am sure you can find some very nice family run places if you have the time to spend.

hope the journey goes well
let us know all the gory details - we could be the next ones doing it
:thumbsup:

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

Have a look at this link, very economical re tolls etc.



http://about-france.com/tourism/no-tolls-routes.htm

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

As an after thought, I prefer to come down through Pau in France and then its toll free down to south of Valencia

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

So many options, but worth bearing in mind is that unless travelling from the extreme S.W.corner of England, Portsmouth is no further than Dover and in most cases closer as well as easier traffic wise.
That leaves a number of options of which for me the best by far is the overnight ferry to St Malo allowing a good nights sleep on the ferry and a much shorter and much easier trip down the West side of France.
Overnight at Bayonne then via Zaragoza to Costa Blanca by mid afternoon next day, again an easy and fairly traffic free run on a brand new motorway.

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

When I did my run last December I was fully booked to ferry into N. Spain but it was cancelled at the last minute so had to drive thru the tunnel.
And it rained all the way through France, cats, dogs, and anything else it could hit me with.
if the ferry had been able to run it would have been a spewy time indeed with all those choppy bits in the Bay of Biscay.

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

just arrived in Granada from UK yesterday...
We made a break of it and stayed overnight 6 hotels on route..Did Folkestone Eurotunnel (35 mins to Calais) overnight in Coquelles next to Tunnel Etap Hotel..
2nd night to Le Mans, ibis Hotel, then Tolouse, Tarragona 2 nights, Alcoy and home
1760 miles..12 toll stops - no problems at all, plenty of service stations, petrol stops and picnic areas with loos on route France and Spain

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

I used to get the 02:00 Dover to Dunkerque, get through the west of Paris before the rush hour and be in Barcelona for the 23:30 ferry to Palma Mallorca, never going over 60mph

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

Don't worry about the "ethyltests"/alcohol tests as they call them in French. Last week, none of the Pharmacies nor supermarkets had them in stock. We were told they might not be available there till October; due to come into law on Nov 1st.

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

when it was first announced Amazon had listings for plenty of sources

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

We have driven via the tunnel and down through France, only done it the once and probably won't ever repeat the experience!

Taking into account the petrol and toll payments along with the trip through the tunnel and an overnight stop in cheap hotel, we have found its not much more expensive to use the ferry to Santander or Bilbao from Portsmouth.

The time taken is almost the same with a refreshing sleep on the boat and a steady drive down from Santander. This way is so good for us that we have already booked the ferry for next May. This has cost us £648 return for a two berth cabin and obviously one car and two passengers. This year it was £720 but we did travel out at the beginning of July and returned at the beginning of August.

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

Beware when buying a non-French breathalyzer from Amazon as the limits are different so a Pass/Fail one will give you a false reading.

Re: Drive UK to Spain
 

Just to say thanks to all of the contributors. ( a lot of useful info).

After I complete my return trip will 'issue' report...

Have past experience of travelling from Calais via Paris towards Limoges so will probably follow that route although I have yet to compare costings of the 'Santander approach'.

The rest ? well that (I hope ) will be an enjoyable experience